They've found that adding caffeinated water to rodents' diet results in big improvements. The mice perform better on short-term memory and thinking tests. But only if they get enough caffeine.

"The human equivalent of two to three cups of coffee does not have benefits in our Alzheimer's mice," says Arendash.

Arendash's team also documented that these super-caffeinated mice end up with about a 50-percent reduction in abnormal amyloid proteins, which are thought to play an important role in the development of Alzheimer's.

The typical American drinks about a cup and a half of coffee a day. "So you can see that many of us are below that threshold level that we believe confers protective benefits," says Arendash.

The sad part about this story is that although amyloid proteins are thought to play a major role in Alzheimer's, we don't know for sure. We all produce beta-amyloid, it's just that some of us don't clear it from the body properly and hence...Alzheimer's. That's one theory anyway.On the other hand, maybe those chocolate covered coffee beans that I eat can offer some protection from Alzheimer's. And I don't mind eating a few more beans each day if it will help.

The real bad news is that if I drank 5 cups of coffee a day it wouldn't matter that I could remember everything because I'd be in the bathroom all the time. Why don't these brilliant people who are always trying to help us ever think of these things?!